Alec Baldwin’s Career Has Reached the Talking-Baby Phase

Congratulations are in order for Alec Baldwin. With the release of the first trailer for the upcoming animated DreamWorks comedy The Boss Baby, it seems safe to say that the erstwhile 30 Rock star and Oscar nominee has officially entered the Kelsey Grammer portion of his career—marked by brief, lighthearted guest roles on TV, the occasional meaty prestige part. . . and, of course, lucrative voice roles in gentle family films.

With The Boss Baby, Baldwin seems to have found his very own version of Storks. (You remember Storks, don’t you? In theaters right now? That Storks?) The film’s premise is one big “yes, and,” founded on the sudden alienation a kid feels when his or her parents bring home a baby sibling—except in this case, there really does seem to be something fishy about seven-year-old Tim’s new kid brother. Specifically: he wears a tiny suit. He has a taste for sushi. Oh, and yeah, he’s voiced by Alec Baldwin.

The movie itself looks like a whole stew of jokes mined from brainy babies of yore, including, but not limited to: Baby Herman from Roger Rabbit, Stewie from Family Guy, the E-Trade baby, Baby Godfather, the Baby Geniuses, the Look Who’s Talking kids, and, maybe most blatantly, Saturday Night Live’s recurring “Office Boss” sketch, which stars Beck Bennett as a very important C.E.O. who happens to have the body of a tiny, tiny baby.

This might make for an awkward run-in between Bennett and Baldwin the next time their paths cross at Studio 8H. Then again, Baldwin has a strong defense—he’s already proven himself adept at voicing a talking baby.